Double Bass Getting the top off a Fiberglass Bass

[DuctTapeLuthier]

Anyone have any idea how to get the top off a Roth Finch fiberglass bass? There's a dent in the top that I'd like to repair.

Before you ask...

The bass will never sound good (pretty much by definition), so making it look good is the next best option, and don't forget that it is fully machine washable.

If the answer it "it's impossible" then a planter is the only remaining option and suggestions on the best floral varieties to plant for year round color will be accepted.

(Even though it's a piece of xxxxx I hate to see a bass trashed).

 

[toman]

I assume it's all bonded with some sort of gnarly glue or resin? Seems like you'd have to cut it off, probably with a very thin cutting wheel. Maybe one of those thin fibre cutting disks on a dremel?

 

[DuctTapeLuthier]

There's a lip on the bass - the top folds round the ribs just a little, so cutting it is not really an option. I applied heat and steam, enough that I would have expected hide glue to melt, (I don't feel the need to be delicate with this bass) but the the lip, who knows. I suppose I could soak it in a tub of hot water to be sure, but I suspect it's another glue at work.

You raise a good question as to what's normally used to bond fiberglass, rather than basses, and whether that has a solvent (that doesn't destroy the fiberglass). Sounds like a google search.

How about pe-tune-ias, or forget-me-notes? We have Ponderosa Pines here, maybe there's an End Pine, I could us to hold the planter up.

Jim